In the Song Dynasty, there was no law or order.

At the end of the 13th year of the Qingli Period of the Song Dynasty, the Liao and Jin fought a decisive battle in the north.

In addition to the northern military region deployed in Youyan Road, not many people in the Song Dynasty paid attention to this battle.

Except for some newspapers in Bianliang that mentioned the changes in the situation in the Liao Kingdom, no one cared about it.

It’s not that such a major event of destroying the country has made the people of the Song Dynasty uninterested.

But now the people of the Song Dynasty are in a period of vigorous development of culture and entertainment, and various forms of performance such as opera, novels, and storytelling are rapidly popular.

New changes appear every day, attracting the attention of most people in Bianliang.

Just like in the future, no matter how chaotic the war is abroad, the people in the country live a peaceful life, at most they will just take a look, who will put all their thoughts on foreign countries?

Besides, this is also a trend.

Societies with insufficient material resources are often backward in cultural industries.

It’s not about poetry and songs, but folk culture.

People have no food to eat every day, and they think about how to fill their stomachs every day, so they naturally don’t consider this aspect.

Therefore, from the Spring and Autumn Period to the Tang Dynasty, folk entertainment was not so developed.

In the past, various performance forms had only a prototype, or even if they appeared, they only served the dignitaries and were difficult to provide to the people.

This situation did not change until the Song Dynasty.

The first agricultural revolution in the Song Dynasty, the explosive increase in grain production, the improvement of productivity, the people's lives were slightly richer, and they could not only fill their stomachs, but also enjoy spiritual food.

So culture and art developed rapidly.

Various theaters and restaurants have derived a large number of folk entertainment forms.

Drama, novels, storytelling, juggling and other art forms are in full bloom, and a hundred schools of thought are contending.

This situation is quite similar to the "double hundred" policy mentioned in high school history books, which allows various art forms to flourish.

However, in later generations, it was a policy proposed by the government and promoted. Now it is mainly built by the people themselves, and the court is happy to see it and also praises it strongly.

Under such circumstances, the construction of material and spiritual civilization has formed a virtuous circle.

Because not only are there many people in the arts who are constantly exploring new art forms, but there are also many people with scientific research and business acumen who are also trying to develop better artistic expressions.

Perhaps in the future, cameras, video cameras, and televisions may appear. As long as people have spiritual needs in this regard, someone will definitely find a way to satisfy them.

This is the general trend and what Zhao Jun hopes to see most. After all, demand is the only way for science and technology to develop at the speed of light.

As Zhao Jun's mentor, Professor Wen, once said, war has promoted science and technology. But it is also the rulers who have vigorously promoted the development of science and technology due to the needs of war, right?

After the Laba Festival in December, Zhao Jun's fleet slowly arrived at the Guangji River Wharf outside the city of Bianliang.

There was already a fleet waiting for him at the wharf.

Since August this year, Zhao Jun has not been in Bianliang, but went to Wu'an Iron and Steel Plant first.

Because Cai Zhi said that there have been many achievements in automobile research and development, he went to see it in person and found that the other party had already built a prototype of a car.

And it was not the three-wheeled car similar to the tricycle invented by Karl Benz, but a car with a roof built according to Zhao Jun's instructions.

Except for the simple appearance, the overall framework has been built, including the cooling system, fuel supply system, ignition device, etc.

Zhao Jun had to admire their execution.

Although the most difficult engine in the automotive industry has been completed, other systems are not so simple.

However, Cai Zhi and his team actually let them polish out a relatively complete car in just nine months, which is also a miracle.

Of course.

There is still a big difference between polishing out a car and mass production.

After inventing the three-wheeled car, Karl Benz, the founder of Mercedes-Benz in later generations, quickly founded Mercedes-Benz.

But it was not until more than ten years later that a commercial car was invented, saving the Mercedes-Benz company that was almost bankrupt.

So even if the prototype has been made, it is not so easy to mass produce it.

But it should not take too long.

Because Karl Benz in later generations fought alone after all, and completed the invention of the entire car by himself.

As the chairman of Wu'an Iron and Steel Group, Cai Zhi had a huge steel group as a backing, as well as support from the court and Zhao Jun's advice.

So after having the technical and material conditions, he was able to quickly complete what Benz had taken decades to accomplish.

This is the benefit of the whole country's strength. For example, Japan in later generations was able to complete the entire industrial accumulation in just a few decades with the whole country's strength.

After inspecting the Wu'an Iron and Steel Plant and giving Cai Zhi a few pointers, Zhao Jun left Wu'an without stopping and went to Dengzhou, Shandong.

He was going there to inspect the newly built Weihai Shipyard.

This was the third state-owned large shipyard in the Song Dynasty. Before industrialization, the Song Dynasty had a developed shipbuilding industry, with 26 shipyards in Quanzhou, Qianzhou, Tanzhou and other places.

However, among these places, only Quanzhou was mainly used to build seagoing ships, and the rest of the shipyards were mostly used to build canal ships and domestic river ships. The seagoing ship industry was monopolized by Quanzhou.

After industrialization, the Song Dynasty first built a shipyard in Zhejiang to build large ocean-going ships to facilitate trade with Japan and Goryeo.

Steam engine technology was then applied to ships, and the first ironclad ship was born in Zhejiang Shipyard. Liu Yong, the deputy transport envoy of Jiangsu and Zhejiang Road at that time, became a witness.

In the ninth year of Qingli, the Song Dynasty coordinated the state-owned shipbuilding industry in Quanzhou and established the second large shipyard, which was directly operated by Fujian Road and formed a competitive relationship with the shipyards of Liangzhe Road, so as to increase technology upgrades and investment.

In the year before last, that is, the eleventh year of Qingli, the shipyard project in Weihai, Shandong was also implemented. After two years of construction, a new shipyard larger than Zhejiang Shipyard and Quanzhou Shipyard was launched.

However, unlike the first two, Zhejiang Shipyard and Quanzhou Shipyard were state-owned in the Song Dynasty, allowing them to mainly engage in private sea vessels, including transport ships and passenger ships.

The Weihai Shipyard is directly under the Political System Institute and was officially established this year. The affiliated shipyard of the Song Navy, the main purpose is to build warships.

Now the Song Dynasty has only seven ironclad ships, one for each navy. Except for one ironclad ship, the rest of the ships are wooden warships. Although they are enough in Southeast Asia, they are too weak after all.

If you want to go to the open sea, steam-powered ironclad ships are indispensable.

Even if Wu'an Iron and Steel Plant has developed an engine, it is a trend that oil will replace steam engines as the main power source of ships in the future. It is backward to continue to build steam-powered warships now.

However, Zhao Jun is very clear that the East is a country that lacks oil very much, and it may not be a good thing to develop engines so early.

So he must plan ahead and make steam-powered warships dumplings first. Only with a group of powerful navies can the oil age be opened, so that the Song Dynasty can have enough military force to ensure the seizure of oil.

Otherwise, having technology without resources is just a castle in the air.

"Zhiyuan, we're here."

In the cabin, Li Xiaoji's words were transmitted to the room where Zhao Jun was resting.

He came back from Shandong by the Guangji River Canal.

This time, they were accompanied by Li Xiaoji, the chief of the Military Equipment Bureau, and Wang Anshi, the chief of the Court of Censors.

They were promoted after Zhao Jun's second tour of the country in the ninth year of the Qingli period. They were first promoted from the fifth-rank prefect to the fifth-rank Tongpan of Jingji Road.

Then they were transferred to the fourth-rank deputy transport envoy of Jingji Road. Then Wang Anshi went to the Court of Censors and Li Xiaoji went to the Military Equipment Bureau.

Currently they are promoted to the fourth-rank.

But this is also the limit they can reach at present. It will take another five years to be promoted to the head of a department of a second-level institution, and another five years to be the head of a first-level institution.

On the contrary, Su Huan has worked in the Imperial Decree Bureau for four years since his last tour of the country, and Chen Xiliang and Zhao Yan are about to complete their five-year terms in the third-level institutions, and they will continue to be promoted.

As for Yang Cha and Yang Gao, since they were the first-level institution assistant ministers before, one was promoted to the remonstrance doctor and the other was promoted to the minister of the Ministry of Police.

Basically, it will be next year.

Therefore, it is foreseeable that in the 16th year of the Qingli period, that is, in October 1056 AD, when the fourth Political System Council was in office, Yang Cha and Yang Gao came up.

The next term, that is, in 1061, was when Su Huan, Chen Xiliang and Zhao Yan were promoted to prime ministers.

It was not until 1066 that it was the turn of Wang Anshi and Li Xiaoji.

But it is normal.

After all, one of them is only 33 years old and the other is 35 years old, belonging to the younger generation.

Yang Cha, Yang Gao and others have been ups and downs in the officialdom for many years. They are not from the same era, so the situation is naturally different.

After 13 years, one of them is 46 years old and the other is 48 years old, just in the prime of life, like Fu Bi and others now.

Therefore, the main focus is on training and gilding.

Otherwise, if they are not gilded, how can they be directly transferred from the chief officer of the third-level institution to the chief officer of the second-level institution?

Normal promotion requires promotion from the chief officer of a third-level institution to the deputy chief officer of a second-level institution of the third rank, with a term of five years. In this way, it will take them twenty years to be promoted to the minister of a first-level institution, which is a long way off.

Zhao Jun should take them with him when he goes on tour. With this qualification, he can also help them skip this term and get promoted faster.

And the most important thing is that he can teach them more and train successors.

Hearing Li Xiaoji's words, Zhao Jun, who was resting in the cabin, slowly got up from the boat. He slept last night and arrived in Bianliang in the morning. The canal was still unobstructed.

"Well, I know."

Zhao Jun replied.

He looked out the window and saw that it was already bright.

And the ship was not sailing, but had been stopped for a long time, and might have entered the dock long ago.

It is estimated that they have arrived long ago, but they are afraid of disturbing their rest, so they have been waiting. When there is no response, they tentatively ask.

In fact, Zhao Jun usually wakes up at this time.

But recently, because of the long journey and the boat ride, even though he is from the south, he is not seasick and is good at water, but he still feels uncomfortable.

I have been dizzy these days and my mental state is not very good. I didn’t fall asleep until midnight last night, so I didn’t wake up today.

‘I’m old, I can’t refuse to accept it. ’

Zhao Jun smiled bitterly and shook his head. It has been his seventeenth year in Song Dynasty.

In a few months, it will be the eighteenth year. After the Chinese New Year, he will be 41 years old. He is still dealing with state affairs all day long. His energy is indeed not as good as that of a young man.

When he got dressed and came out of the cabin, the guards were already waiting.

It was not just his prime minister’s guards. A small open space had been cleared on the dock outside, and the imperial guards were waiting to welcome him.

Zhao Jun got off the ship and was greeted by Su Huan. As the production department, his job was actually to be Zhao Jun's secretary. However, this trip to Beijing required him to stay in the production department, so he transferred two temporary secretaries.

Now that Zhao Jun is back, of course he has to welcome him.

"Zhiyuan."

"Um."

Zhao Jun nodded and asked him to get on the carriage together.

Although bicycles are popular now, as a prime minister-level person, you can't just ride a bicycle in public.

Cars had not yet been produced, so we could only ride horse-drawn carriages.

His carriage was very spacious, more than enough to accommodate a dozen people. Zhao Jun sat on the main seat of the carriage and closed his eyes to rest.

Su Huan came up first, followed by Li Xiaoji and Wang Anshi, all sitting on one side.

"What happened during this time?"

"Wanyan Wugunai sent troops out of Changchun last month to conquer Ningzhou. The Liao and Jin Dynasties are probably going to have a decisive battle."

"Um."

Zhao Jun closed his eyes and said nothing.

He had nothing to worry about about Liao and Jin.

The Song Dynasty deployed few troops and horses in Youzhou, less than 30,000 troops.

Because although Zhao Jun reformed the army and improved the status of soldiers, it did not mean changing the previous policy of strong cadres and weak branches.

This is the method formulated during the Zhao Kuangyin period to place the main troops in Bianliang for easier control.

After all, even in later generations, there are many cases of military coups coming to power, the most famous of which is Masao Takagi, so strict control is still necessary.

But this does not mean that the Liao and Jin kingdoms cannot be destroyed with less than 30,000 people. Thirty thousand people are not even needed. Ten thousand people are enough.

Not talking about machine guns, just rifles, howitzers, and mortars. If the Liao and Jin kingdoms cannot be destroyed, then the chief generals of the armies deployed in Youzhou should be dealt with according to military law.

"The railway from Chengdu to Chang'an was put into operation for the first time last month. Prime Minister Yan personally wrote a letter of congratulations and sent it to express his blessings for the opening of the railway."

"Um."

"The Ministry of Railways also said that the Beijing-Guangzhou Railway is expected to be fully operational early next year, probably around February."

"In addition, the Ministry of Finance will compile statistics first in the second half of this year."

"Wait a minute, is that all the railways?"

"That's all."

"The railway from Bianliang to Chang'an has been under construction for a long time, but there is still no movement?"

"Forehead"

Speaking of this, Su Huan smiled bitterly and said: "Zhiyuan has forgotten that from Chang'an to Luoyang, there were several ancient capitals. When they were built, digging everywhere might turn out to be the tombs of certain princes and nobles of the Han and Tang Dynasties. The Cultural Relics Bureau had to stop them everywhere. , the route has been changed several times.”

“I didn’t expect there would be so many tombs when building a railway.”

Zhao Jun shook his head.

Building railways only involves smoothing the ground along the line. There is no need to dig down at all. Only digging for subways requires digging into the ground.

But I didn't expect that the number of cultural relics in Chang'an and Luoyang was so ridiculous. Even if they were just slightly trimmed and trimmed on the ground, a lot of things were made. Even the imperial seal was made in this way, which is really unexpected.

But this is normal.

Antiques from the golden age of troubled times.

During the thousand years of Han and Tang Dynasties, there were often troubled times, so that tomb robbers were everywhere.

They are actually not interested in those antique porcelains.

Only expensive gold jewelry is wanted.

As a result, many tombs in Luoyang, Chang'an, were stolen, and messy porcelain was thrown everywhere. It would naturally cost a lot for the newly established Cultural Relics Bureau to study them.

"Statistics submitted by the Ministry of Finance show that GDP in the first half of this year has reached 1.9 billion yuan, and there should be no problem if it exceeds 3.5 billion yuan this year. If fiscal revenue accounts for about 15% of GDP in previous years, the possible tax revenue this year may reach 500 million yuan. "

"The Ministry of Industry hopes to allocate a fund. They are planning to build a hydropower station on the upper reaches of the Bianhe River. Prime Minister Zha Zi and Fan have already approved it. It is now..."

Su Huan was still thinking about the important events of the court.

Zhao Jun was lying on the armchair, supporting his chin with one hand and lifting the curtains with the other hand.

He saw.

People come and go on the streets on both sides.

Bicycles jingle by.

There are power poles holding power lines above people's heads.

There was the sound of opera singing coming from a two-story restaurant.

There was a storyteller at a street tea stall happily telling the story of a monkey causing havoc in heaven.

Although there was no "Journey to the West" during this period, the prototype of the monkey story had already taken shape as early as the Song Dynasty. It was not until the Ming Dynasty that a large number of folk images of Sun Wukong were collected and compiled into "Journey to the West".

Therefore, although Dahao Tiantian at this time is another version, it can also be regarded as one of the blueprints for the later "Journey to the West", which made everyone present listen with gusto.

Zhao Jun listened to Su Huan's report in his ears, but what he saw in his eyes were the people of Li.

The lives of people in the Song Dynasty are getting better day by day.